1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to configuring graphics display devices, and more particularly to configuring the display devices when multiple graphics adapters are installed in a system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional graphics processing systems including one or more graphics adapters typically need to be rebooted to reconfigure the graphics adapters for a different adapter/display configuration. For example, the host computer is rebooted to change from a first adapter/display configuration with a first graphics adapter providing output for a first display and a second graphics adapter providing output for a second display to a second adapter/display configuration with the first graphics adapter and the second graphics adapter configured to provide output for the first display and either the first graphics adapter or the second graphics adapter configured to provide output for the second display. Using two graphics adapters to provide output for a single display is desirable to produce complex images for the single display with improved performance compared with using a single graphics adapter to produce the complex images.
A single display driver may be used to interface between the operating system (OS) running on the host computer and the first graphics device and the second device. Alternatively, a separate display driver may be used to interface between the operating system (OS) running on the host computer and each graphics device. When a user requests to change the adapter/display configuration, the OS initiates a shutdown in order to reconfigure the graphics devices and displays. After the graphics devices and displays are reconfigured, the OS restarts the system. When the system is rebooted, the OS shuts down all of the applications and display driver(s) and restarts the applications and the display driver(s). The reboot requires many clock cycles to complete and is typically avoided by users.
Accordingly, it is desirable to enable a user to change the adapter/display configuration without rebooting the system.